Mindanao floods, landslides: Agriculture, infrastructure damage hits P3.6 billion

MANILA, Philippines — Damage to infrastructure and agriculture due to flooding and landslides in Davao and Caraga has reached more than P3.6 billion.

Heavy rainfall spawned by the northeast monsoon and trough of a low-pressure area battered the two regions since early this month.

In its situational report as of 8 a.m. yesterday, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) said damage to infrastructure was estimated at P2.62 billion.

At least 278 infrastructure facilities and nearly 5,000 houses were damaged.

The NDRRMC report said losses in the agriculture sector were estimated at more than P1 billion, with 25,010 hectares of agricutural land affected.

Damage to livestock, poultry and fisheries was estimated at P7.4 million. At least 19,071 farmers and fisherfolk were affected.

Up to 471,819 families or more than 1.5 million people were affected by the weather systems, 59,310 of them pre-emptively evacuated.

The NDRRMC said 188,656 people were displaced. The government said it had set up 63 evacuation centers.

The government has so far provided P267.3 million in assistance to affected residents.

In Maco, Davao de Oro, 98 people were confirmed dead while eight remain missing in a landslide that occurred in Barangay Masara on Feb. 6.

Mayor Arthur Carlos Voltaire Rimando ordered the suspension of search and retrieval operations on Thursday after the incident management team reported the completion of retrieval and debris clearing at ground zero of the landslide.